


anywhere else is hollow

by Starstruck0rMetal



Series: Pumpkinverse [2]
Category: My Chemical Romance
Genre: Author has no excuse, Cheese, Cuddling & Snuggling, Domestic Fluff, Exposition, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Massage, Old Married Couple, Tickling, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Valentine's Day Fluff, all the fluff in the world, self indulgent...
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-20
Updated: 2021-02-20
Packaged: 2021-03-17 11:21:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,375
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29592051
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Starstruck0rMetal/pseuds/Starstruck0rMetal
Summary: Old couple has Valentine's Day fun. (Not clickbait).
Relationships: Frank Iero/Gerard Way
Series: Pumpkinverse [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2174109
Comments: 18
Kudos: 27





	anywhere else is hollow

**Author's Note:**

> I am but a humble Current Gee/Frank enthusiast.

Frank _knows_ he's not being stood up for Valentine's dinner by the man he's been with for over thirty years now, but Gerard won't pick up the phone and the waitress has been giving him some seriously pitiful looks for half an hour now. At least they're not snarky, Frank thinks.

Why did he even agree to come here separately? Frank just wants to leave now, but he's a sucker for the holiday, much to Gerard's chagrin. "You are so straight for this," Gerard tells him nearly every year when Frank starts pouting. "St. Valentine literally married gay men!"

"That is a lie and you know it, babe."

"It's literally not! We're supposed to celebrate love!" and then Frank goes in for the final blow, "Do you not love me anymore?" He asks in a fake teary voice, and it always gets to Gerard, no matter what.

Not that they need to resort to emotional blackmail — Gerard likes putting up a fuss about everything but loves the dinners and exchanged gifts(and sexual favors) as much as Frank, he's just really opposed to corporate made-up holidays.

Well too bad, Frank is eager and willing to participate in all and any corporate ploys for this one cold February day. He settles for the plain old romance of putting socks back on his husband's cold feet during the night after he gets up to pee most other days.

"Hi, this is Gerard, sorry I missed your call, leave a message." Gerard's nasally voice sounds out over the line, followed by a familiar rustling, Frank's giggle and a beep.

"If you've decided to leave me for some 20 year old twink on Valentine's Day, I will eat all your garlic bread, mark my words." Frank says. That'll teach him.

No it won't.

Suddenly a round of applause goes through the restaurant and Frank snaps his head up, looking around for the cause. His eyes settle on a younger couple, probably in their 20s. The blonde girl swoops up her now-fiancée in a tight hug and Frank's heart warms up, his mind taking him back to his own engagement night, but then the redhead pulls back excitedly to dig through her pockets and come up with a ring of her own and an another round of applause, followed by a wave of "aww" sounds out in the room.

Frank tears up a bit and wraps his fingers around the gold band on his finger, asking the waitress to send a bottle of champagne over to the newly engaged couple.

A red-in-the-face and out of breath version of his husband dashes over to the table as Frank picks away at his garlic bread, clutching his 20 year old, beat up, favorite messenger bag in one hand and a bouquet of roses in the other. At least they're Frank's favorite shade. Gerard’s messy hair indicates that he did, in fact, brush it in the morning, but forgot what he brushed it for throughout what seems to be a rough day. Frank thinks he looks beautiful. All frustration drains out of him as Gerard rattles off his apologies and kisses his cheek, his special mix of soft-rough beard tickling Frank's lips.

"Everyone in that God-forsaken company is insane." Gerard rambles, "why would they think an intern would be able to get 8 pages done in two days? And I only heard about it today! the poor kid is going to pass out on me. I'm sorry, Pumpkin."

"So you're saying that you were late for a good cause and I _shouldn't_ eat all your garlic bread tonight?"

Gerard's fingers twitch in the bread's direction, "Well, yes." He says with a smile.

Just then the waitress arrives, her face bright and professional seeing Frank's date hadn't ditched him after all. She dutifully informs him about the fact that his gift champagne had been delivered, and apparently, it came with a complimentary dessert, as congratulations from the chef.

Frank decides to keep his left hand out of her direct field of vision as they order their dinner.

"Who got engaged?" Gerard asks after the girl leaves, Frank points in the direction of the young couple, telling him about the event

"Doesn’t have to be the last engagement of the evening, y'know?" Frank tells his husband with a wiggle of his eyebrows.

"We've been married for over 15 years now, Frank, your ship for free dessert has sailed a long time ago."

"They don't have to know that, c'mon, you were late, you owe me a prank." Frank quickly pulls off his wedding ring, inspecting the discoloration underneath. It's nice, he thinks, it's a nice semi-permanent band around his finger, maybe he should get a tattoo circling the finger too, just in case. 

Gerard stares at him for a long moment and rolls his eyes, inconspicuously hiding his hands underneath the table to take his ring off, struggling for a bit before it comes off.

"We will go to hell for this. I hope you're aware." He tells his snickering husband as Frank stands up.

"And _that_ ship sailed about twelve hundred sexy times ago, babe." 

"Sexy times… You're still 14…" Gerard mutters as Frank goes over to bother the nice looking hostess.

"Hi, may I?"

"Of course, how can I help?" The girl's name tag says Florence and she stands a good few inches over Frank, lean, with a good posture and a professional smile.

"See, this is sort of a special night for me and my husband —" Frank makes shit up as he goes, really, "well, he's not really my husband, we've been together for about 30 years now," he decides half-truths usually go over easier, Florence shines a sweet, surprised smile at him, clearly noticing Frank's age and how they would've been teenagers when they first got together. 

Truth be told, Frank and Gerard had known each other since kindergarten, they grew up together, really, this relationship is Frank's pride and joy, seeing as he knows it usually never quite works out for others in the end. Not to gloat, or anything… of course… Maybe a little bit though. 

"We never really got married, well, we grew up in a different time," that line always works on the youth, "I've been a bit anxious, but I think it's high time to tie the knot, y'know, can't have him running around like a bachelor forever," he jokes. Gerard could totally snag someone younger, fresher, better looking than Frank, he's a total hottie still, Frank chooses not to think about it, and always lets Gerard calm his insecurities. "I just thought a good old-fashioned ring-in-champagne could work, wanted to ask if there's anyone I could ask for the favor?" He shines his most polite smile, the one that would get Gerard to share his candy with him when they were kids, the same one that would get him out of being grounded, too.

"That's very sweet, of course," Florence tells him. "If I could have the ring, I'll ask Luke to bring it out whenever you'd like."

Frank hands her Gerard's golden band, the tiny engraving on the inside greeting him for a second.

"During dessert should be fine, if that's no problem?"

"None at all, happy Valentine's to you both." She says with a smile that does, actually, reach her eyes, and Frank feels a pang of guilt but it's not like he's lying his ass off here, they could totally be renewing their vows right now.

He kisses Gerard's cheek before he sits down, the candle sitting in the centre of their table is burning away, leaving a faint smell of vanilla behind. Low light had always given Gerard a very outworldly look, the soft shadows falling on his face, his messy hair and long eyelashes fanning his rosy cheeks have always produced a beautiful man, and Frank's never going to be tired of taking him in.

Gerard catches his stare and smiles back, covering his inked hand with his own bare one, their naked ring fingers aligning together for the first time in years. Frank feels a bit uneasy when he becomes hyper aware of its disappearance, wanting to reach into his pocket and slip it back on, but the dessert those girls are having a few tables over looks really delicious. Plus he totally missed proposing to Gerard.

"Remember the first time I asked you to marry me?"

"Yeah," Gerard giggles a bit, "which first are you referring to, though?" He asks as he takes Frank's hand in his, brushing his thumb over the back, petting the tattooed heart.

"See, I know you think I was full of shit when I asked you in kindergarten but I already knew," Frank says with a dashing smile, making Gerard giggle some more.

"I think the first time I actually believed you were serious was after we graduated."

Frank remembers the night Gerard refers to fondly; They had ditched prom, still convinced their parents were unaware of their relationship, and went to the park by the river where they shared their first kiss years before. Frank hadn't had a ring, just promises of love, devotion and forever. Gerard had panicked at the time, played it off with a kiss and a small dance in the moonlight. Frank kept his promises for years to come. 

Truth be told, Gerard turned Frank down at least a dozen times before he proposed to Frank himself — much to the surprise of everyone they knew — and now, as Frank holds Gerard's palm against his cheek, kissing his wrist and enjoying the way his fingers fidget over his ear and in his hair, he feels no regret or disappointment in any road they had to take to get here. He'd ask a dozen times over.

"Happy Valentine's, Pumpkin," Gerard whispers, "thank you for never giving up on me." His smile is shy, full of love, and suddenly the only Gerard Frank can see is the baby faced 17 year old blond, smiling at him from Frank's bed as he dangles his feet while drawing Frank as he's strumming away on his brand new guitar, sitting on his bedroom carpet, trying to come up with a riff to impress his boyfriend.

"Off chance you wanna marry me again?" Frank asks, his voice cracking through the bright smile.

"I don't know, why don't you butter me up some more tonight and maybe we'll see about that later." Gerard says with a wink and sips on his fruity champagne.

♡

Their dinner flows as usual, settling into a comfortable silence as they eat their favorite dishes. Gerard tells Frank about his latest projects even though he's legally not allowed to and they crack a few jokes about being rebels. Frank, on his part, tells him about the few bottles of bleach he bought on impulse today. Gerard’s eyes go wide and he seems genuinely excited for Frankie's change of style, immediately agreeing to take the honor of bleaching his husband's hair on their next day off. 

Frank mostly stuck to his own natural hair after the misfortunes of his early twenties (not that he didn't rock most of those hairstyles, of course), but Gerard had been craving to dye his hair for years, even sneaking up on him with a bottle of red in his hands one time, his own hair still covered in the same dye. Of course, it ended up in them ruining their white bed sheets, but Gerard considers that day a win, if not for the sex, then for the post factum red paint in the shapes of fingerprints around Frank's throat and over his back that stayed there for a couple weeks because they refused to get up to shower for way too long afterwards. They did make great shots for Frank's portfolio, though.

By the time their dessert arrives, the newly engaged girls have already left, which means Frank won't even steal their spotlight. The young man smiles at him and Frank nods his head, suddenly realizing that he doesn't really have a speech prepared, but he can probably piece something together on the go. Gerard, on his part, actually blushes when he pulls the ring out of the drink with his fork, but he doesn't overdo the surprise when Frank gets out of his chair and kneels before him.

"Gerard Arthur Way," he starts, a few gasps and "awws" already reaching his ears. Gerard's eyes are piercing, as always, twinkling with mischief and genuine fondness that Frank appreciates. "I've known you all my life, and I've loved you for just as long," he takes Gerard's hand in his, rubbing his thumb over his bare ringfinger. "Now, I know we're still young and you might think it's too early to tie the knot with our whole lives still ahead of us, but -" Gerard giggles and Frank can actually see his blush deepening, covering his nose, reaching his eyes, "- but I think you're it for me, and there's nothing I would regret more than holding this question back and risk not seeing you drool over our pillows in twenty years." Gerard snorts, "You're the kindest, wisest man I've had the pleasure to know, not to mention drop dead gorgeous with a mighty butt," Gerard giggles some more and gets embarrassed, Frank can tell, his ears go pink and his eyes start darting around. "I love that you never fail to remind me to wear sunscreen when we go out in the sun, and I love that I will always forget, but you won't, and you're always willing to put up with my self-deprecating bullshit just because you love me too much. I love you too much too, would you maybe give me the honor of loving you too much for the rest of our lives?" Gerard opens his mouth, but Frank interrupts, "No pressure, or anything, but my knee isn't doing very well right now."

"Old man," Gerard laughs, pulling Frank up and letting him slip his own ring back onto his finger. "Of course I will." They finish up their little performance with a chaste kiss, and two, and three, and Gerard pulls Frank off himself before he starts trying to fondle him in the middle of a restaurant. That probably won't get them any free dessert.

People clap for them too, and Frank feels extremely smug about it, "Finally made you cave, huh?" He wiggles his brows at Gerard.

"Congratulations, Pumpkin" Gerard says, "Only took you two decades."

The blush doesn't leave Gerard's face the entire night, and Frank basks in it, excitement thrumming through his body like a drum. He's pretty sure Gerard accepting his proposal just gave him a semi well into his forties. It's exhilarating. And about time.

The hostess Frank spoke to earlier delivers the dessert herself, it's a chocolate lava cake with a ball of vanilla ice cream as topping, along with some strawberries and cinnamon.

"Fuck, it was totally worth it." Gerard whisper-moans out as he takes the first bite.

"I'm glad that my proposal has finally come in handy, babe." Frank takes a bite of his own, "Holy shit." His eyes roll back into his skull. "This has to be the best lava cake I've ever had, what the fuck," he says, stuffing his face with ice cream.

"What did they put in this?" Gerard asks noone in particular, chocolate already staining his mouth.

"No clue but I'm about to cream my pants over it."

Their delightful conversation soon dies down and a toasty feeling of fullness takes over their table. The vanilla-scented candle soon burns down to the end and they take it as their cue to go home, leaving a generous tip and compliments to the staff behind. 

Gerard kisses Frank on their way out, opens the doors for him and lets Frank sit back in the drivers side of his own car, holding his bouquet to his chest as he drives them home, Bowie's groovy tunes has them tapping their fingers and humming along. Content.

♡

Frank turns the water off, gets out of the shower and dries himself off, wrapping a towel around his hips and toeing into the bedroom, where Gerard is sitting against the bed's headboard, playing on his phone with his glasses on and petting a dozing lotion in his lap. Frank shuts the door behind himself and turns the lights off, leaving their bedside lamps to be the only source of light in the darkened room. 

"Are you still playing Candy Crush?"

Gerard looks up and smiles at him, taking his glasses off, tapping the space next to him as Frank climbs onto bed, wincing as he rests his whole weight on his shoulder to kiss Gerard. 

"I'm on level 502 now." He says proudly, "Is your shoulder acting up again?" He asks, his eyebrows worried. Frank sits back on his knees as Gerard squeezes his arm, "Grab the heating cream and come here." Gerard says as he adjusts their pillows, patting his knees. The commotion makes Lotion wake up, so he hops off the bed and onto the carpet, stretching before he makes his exit through the tiny hole in the couple's bedroom door.

Frank ends up sitting between Gerard's spread legs, his towel still on. He could swear Gerard has some magic running through his fingers, finding all the tense spots and working them out as Frank melts into his touch.

"Thank you."

"Anytime at all." Gerard whispers and kisses behind his ear, his hands stop moving over Frank's sore back and move to the nape of his neck, nearly making Frank purr. "Good?" He asks.

"Incredible." Frank answers and kisses the knuckles running along his jaw. Gerard works his way down Frank's right shoulder and onto his bicep, his forearm, to his tense and calloused hands and fingers.

Frank closes his eyes and lays back into the old, ratty Slayer shirt covering Gerard's soft chest, draping a blanket over their legs, letting his husband's scent embrace his naked body, and it's nice, Frank thinks, to be so in love with someone for so many years. Throughout all the bullshit. Nothing could lessen the happiness this man has brought him. Frank tilts his head up and drops butterfly kisses onto Gerard's jaw, making his focused face relax into a soft smile. Gerard's hand comes up to Frank's cheek and he pecks his forehead, his nose, and then his lips, thumb brushing over his cheekbone and arm closing around Frank's middle, tapping over the birds on his hips, inching lower when Frank squirms and chuckles.

"Feel better?"

"I dunno," Frank whispers against Gerard's lips, "I think I'm still sore, you should continue." He tilts his hips into Gerard's hand, his fingers dipping under Frank's towel, carding through the fine hairs.

"Today was really nice." Gerard remarks, "I totally owe you for being late." 

"You so do, especially for giving me a boner in a restaurant."

"What?" Gerard pulls back with a funny expression.

"I totally got a semi back there, dude."

"From what?"

Frank blushes fiercely, suddenly too shy to say it.

"Did you really pop a boner because I accepted your proposal fifteen years into our marriage?" Gerard laughs. 

Frank bats at his arm, laughing along after a pause.

"So sue me," he says, "you looked really sexy with the blush."

Gerard pinches his hip and laughs harder when Frank yelps, so he does it again, and again, just because he can. Frank ends up rolling over and almost off the bed, both of them barely able to hold him up, tangling in each other as their laughter settles down.

Frank gets up to put his pajama pants on, stretching and yawning on his way back into his big spoon's arms.

"Goodnight, Pumpkin." Gerard kisses his neck. Frank can't see it, but he knows it's exactly where he has the date of their wedding inked onto his skin forever. Gerard could map his body out with his eyes closed, and Frank will never have enough of their love on display for the whole world. Or maybe just for Gerard.

Gerard pulls Frank's body into his, tighter, closer. Every night. Frank falls asleep with a smile on his face. Every night. 

**Author's Note:**

> The previous part is the only fic of mine that I genuinely love, I hope this one isn't very embarrassing.
> 
> Credits to Taylor Swift's Willow for the title and Gerard's hatred of Candy Crush for... existing


End file.
